CHIKARA Pro responds to review of Everett, MA show

Monday, 30 July 2012 10:59

We want to
thank all 336 paying customers that joined us in Everett, MA yesterday for a fun
afternoon at the matches!

We certainly regret the failure of Marty Jannetty to
appear as advertised. Our responsibility was to alert the fans seeking admission
to this event of this change to the advertised card as promptly as we could, and
we did. We did on 3 separate occasions before the first bell sounded. We made it
clear to any ticket holders that we would offer them a full refund if they so
desired, and offered it with our apologies. Marty's failure to appear was beyond
our ability to control. Not a single person took us up on our offer of a refund
yesterday.

The entire CHIKARA cast and crew worked extremely hard to present our fans in both
Portland, ME (Saturday night) and Everett, MA (Sunday afternoon) with the best
experience possible, and so you can understand why it is discouraging to return
to the office, after logging some 821 miles, to read a review of the kind
published on the Wrestling Observer site yesterday evening.

It would
have been easiest to simply cancel the scheduled tag match featuring Los Ice
Creams outright, as Green Ant's partner (Marty Jannetty) did not appear.
Certainly the other 8 bouts of the card were not lacking in the categories of
excitement or fun. Instead, we had the opportunity to feature a beloved member
of the CHIKARA family, Steven 'The Turtle' Weiner, who was marking his 5th
anniversary with our organization, and takes great pride in being one of
us.
Steven
Weiner has overcome the developmental/behavioral disabilities presented by his
autism to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. He is not just
a remarkable, amiable person, but an inspiration to anyone that struggles to
overcome adversity in order to accomplish their goals.
We here at CHIKARA would like to set the record straight.

Any review claiming that our
fanbase was 'pretty upset and vocal' about Steven's substitution yesterday is a
gross exaggeration. In fact, in a room of 336 enthusiastic wrestling fans, a
handful at most voiced anything like this. A handful. And just being 'the
loudest,' 'the rudest,' or even having your opinion posted on a wrestling news
site, does not make you right. At least, not at CHIKARA.
Should any
situation present itself again in the future where we can, we will continue to
present Steven 'The Turtle' Weiner as an in-ring performer, just as we have over
the last 5 years.

To those who find this statement offensive or view it as an
affront to their personal tastes in professional wrestling, please feel free to
direct your attention, and as is your right as a consumer, your money,
elsewhere.